Posts Tagged ‘Bicycles’

I won’t try to write a lot about this. I knew Jim in passing from being out on the road during two FC 508s, and the start/finish socializing there. I spent a good deal of time with them (in 508 pre-race terms) at racer check-in Friday. They were having some difficulties with their van lights, and we got to talk for about half an hour. The last time I saw Jim was on the Kel-Baker grade.

I am keenly aware of how tough my sport is. It’s made tougher by traffic and drivers with an over-inflated sense of self worth. My prayers and good wishes to Jim, his family, and his loved ones. Please take a moment to read this story and to watch the news reports.

I guess I should clarify that these my goals for this year’s Furnace Creek 508. While I have set a lot of goals, I don’t think there are more than 500 of them just yet.🙂

There is a lot of redundancy in this list, so here’s my logic. Regardless of how well I’m doing, or how poorly, I want there to be goals I can achieve. In many cases, achieving 1 goal will actually take care of multiple ones in that stage.

This endurance race, for me, is all about finishing. I have 48 hours to finish the ride, so I’m focused primarily on that one overriding aspiration. Beyond that, everything else is gravy. Here, then, are my goals before and during the race, including individual stage goals. At the end of the list, you’ll see a breakdown of all the possible time goals and the speeds I’d have to average in order to achieve them.

Furnace Creek 508 Goals

Pre-Race Goals:

Raise $2500 for race

Get entry fee sponsorship (accomplished)

Get hotel sponsorship (accomplished)

Get rental van sponsorship

Keep a record of all training rides

Complete all training rides according to Emde’s schedule (in process)

165 pounds maintained

<160 on race day.

Find a bike mechanic for the crew (in process)

Get new wheels for the bike

Keep up with the blog (in process)

Overall Race Goals:

Finish the race, no matter what

Finish in the top 25 riders

Finish in the top 15 riders

Finish in the top 10 riders

<45 minutes off the bike

Stick to the race plan as decided by racer and coach

Finish in under 43:49:45 (Team 2x Thrasher 2009 time)

Finish under 45:21:31 (Thrasher solo time 2007 time)

Finish in under 40 hours

Finish in <35 hours

Finish before midnight

Finish in daylight

Finish ahead of more than half 2x/4x teams

Over the Trona Bump and into Panamint in daylight

Get to the base of Townes Pass and start the climb in daylight

Make it over Townes Pass between 7-8 p.m.

Descend safely off of Townes Pass

Don’t stop on the way up any of the climbs

Don’t stop at the top of any of the climbs

Enjoy the opportunity and ability to race

Stage 1 (Santa Clarita to California City) Goals:

Show up at the start line

Stay in the pack, toward the back, during the neutral start

Keep the adrenaline in check at the official start up San Francisquito Canyon

Stay tuned for updates about my goal of completing the Furnace Creek 508 in October, 2011.

I’m off for a training ride at present, so additional blogging will have to wait.

But I hope you check back often, and please comment, encourage, chide, or whatever else floats your boat! It will be a long road of hard training and preparation ahead. I really do look forward to having you along for the ride.